Mind over Matter
by PurplePenguin24
Summary: Heidi Ashville, a PhD student from England is asked for her expertise on a special case belonging to her favourite professor. She is introduced to Dr. Spencer Reid and finds herself exposed to a mind she has never before encountered, a feeling it seems, that is reciprocated. Set post-season 8. Disclaimer: I do no own Criminal Minds or its characters, only my OCs belong to me.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_Heidi_

Walking down the corridor to Professor William Clarybourne's office, I clutched my notebook. A prominent neuropsychologist, I was honoured when he accepted my invitation to be my PhD supervisor. I was equally honoured when he asked me to complete some research for him.

I was met with friendly smiles and waves as I passed the patients of Greenley psychiatric hospital. I worked here part-time as an assistant to William and his colleagues. As I got to know the patients and their histories I found the job evermore rewarding – I knew that I was helping people with otherwise abnormal conditions lead as normal a life as they could.

Vanessa, a woman in her later thirties, inched forward as she saw me turn the corner, resulting in me dropping my notebook and the prompt spillage of my last week's scribbles all over the floor. "Heidi, I made you this for your wall". She handed me a highly accurate, detailed drawing of the oak tree and post-box outside her bedroom window, before turning and shuffling back toward the dormitories.  
"Thank you, Vanessa, it's beautiful." I said quickly, before she was out of earshot. She turned her head and smiled shyly. Suffering from severe autism, Vanessa was quite awkward and didn't often take part in social activities. She had also had a few bad experiences with other patients so I tried to visit her at least once a week to draw with her. She gave me drawings regularly which I interpreted both as her way of willingly forming a relationship as well as progress.

I gathered up my papery mess on the floor and stowed it in my bag to prevent any further issues. Before being on my way I gently glided Vanessa's picture between two textbooks to prevent it getting damaged before it made it to my wall!

Upon seeing an 'out for lunch' sign outisde Professor Clarybourne' office, I gave his door four swift knocks – so he knew it was me – before he called my name followed by permission to enter. I felt extremely lucky to have such a friendly relationship with William; I'd heard from some of my friends studying for their doctorates that their supervisors were either drill sergeants or less than interested!

"Hiya, Heidi," William greeted me as I sat down in front of his desk. He appeared to be drawing small diagrams in his notebook before crossing them out and starting again repeatedly._  
_"Hello William, how's the study coming?" I liked to inquire after his work – his papers were among the most interesting reads I had come across in my studies.  
"Oh you know, the usual trouble in explaining complex science as if it were as simple as A-B-C!" he laughed as he put his work to the side, "but…what can I do for you today Miss Ashville?".  
I smiled at his formality, and lifted my dishevelled notes out of my bag. "I have the research you asked for, Professor Clarybourne", I made sure to add the honorific.  
"What did you think?", he quickly asked, joking obviously aside, he was back to the 52 year old academic, thirsty for a student's opinion.  
"I don't think the literature quite applies to the person in question." I thought I'd better be honest now, than be scolded later for not coming out with it straight away!  
"Why is that?" He smiled and looked genuinely interested. I had said something right – one brownie point for me.  
"Well, going on his profile, I think he's unlike any participant in any of the studies in the literature. Academic genius, autistic tendencies. I think he should be interviewed before such a diagnosis is made. The headaches might be stress, and especially given his family history – this might be a learned behaviour."  
"I'm impressed, Heidi. I think you're onto something there." – another brownie point – "I shall take your thoughts into consideration as I make some enquiries of my own". I smiled. He seemed happy so I placed my notes on his desk and got up to leave. "I'll be in touch, Heidi. I hope your studies are going well." He added before getting up and holding out his hand.  
"Thank you, William." I shook it and headed towards the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Spencer_

It was Thursday, laundry day, I thought as I made my way to my desk. A pile of paperwork sat in the centre of it, looking ominous. Before I began work I sifted through my bag to find the letter the postman had given me as I made my way out of my apartment building this morning. Opening it I discovered it was from Professor Clarybourne, requesting to see me in person. An appointment was attached to the letter – today at 5 o'clock. I wondered what could be so pertinent that he wanted to speak to me so urgently and face-to-face. I much preferred to communicate through letters, as we had been doing for the last month.

"Good morning, pretty boy", I jumped slightly as I felt Morgan behind me "got a date this evening, have we?", he said, a smile in his voice.  
"Derek!" I saw Garcia give him a scolding look as she walked towards us carrying a tray of coffee, JJ and Blake in tow, looking equally reprimanding.  
I felt Morgan's hand on my shoulder as he said "you know I didn't mean anything by it, did you Reid?"I smiled up at him to show I didn't take offence before JJ handed me my coffee.

Since Maeve's death, over six months ago, there had understandably been a taboo on my private life within the team. Morgan forgot himself from time to time but I've gradually moved on and it's becoming less painful to think about. Looking at the team disagreeing and laughing with each other as they discussed the planned rendezvous for the coming weekend, I felt as if I'd had the support and energy around me to come through it to the point I'm at now. I had even began looking into my headaches again, as I still suffered with them from time to time, which is what I hoped Professor Clarybourne could shed some light on for me.

"Is that alright with you Spence, the light festival at the park on Saturday evening?" JJ asked, interrupting my thoughts. How apt!  
"Yeah, that's fine with me, are you bringing Henry?" I replied, smiling.  
"Of course, it'd be a great opportunity for him to see his godparents." JJ nodded at Garcia as she finished her reply.

The rest of the day passed relatively quickly, with each of us catching up on paperwork. Closing my last folder, I looked at my watch to find it was 4.30. I got up and after saying my goodbyes and made my way toward Greenley Psychiatric hospital.

Sitting in the waiting area, I heard a barrage of giggling coming through the window into the main office. It's nice that the staff here are so happy and enthusiastic, I thought as I took in my surroundings once again. There were lots of plants hanging about, on tables, in baskets, on windowsills – every time I visit I always debate with myself over whether this is how the hospital got its name or if it's been dressed like this because of its name.

Just as I was about to move one of the plants around so all of its leaves could see some of the evening sun, the door to the office opened.  
"Sorry Meghan, I've got to saddle the chickens and get a wriggle on, Mina and Lou Lou are waiting for me!" I heard a woman say; I recognised the accent and idiom as English. "Yes, see you at the show, bye!" she called in reply to someone in the office.  
A young woman I imagined to be in her mid-twenties backed out of the door; her long dark blonde hair was tied up, somewhat messily on her head, where a pair of glasses were perched. She turned around as she shut the door, her bag and thigh-length blue coat swinging around her.  
"Good evening" she said as she noticed me, her blue eyes squinting slightly with her smile as she turned and left through the doors.  
I looked toward the office as the door opened again to reveal an older woman, somewhat resembling the woman who had just left, save for the brown hair. "Dr. Reid, Professor Clarybourne will see you now, apologies for the wait." she said, also with an English accent, in what I assumed to be her most-polite-despite-it-being-after-hours voice.  
"Thank you, do you know that woman who just left?" I was surprised at my abruptness.  
"Yes, she works here assisting some of the psychologists. She's my baby sister, a lot cleverer than me though, she's studying to be a doctor." She replied, with admiration clear in her voice.  
"I see, I hope she does well." I said, getting to my feet.  
"Just follow the corridor here and turn left then right at the top of the stairs" the brown-haired woman instructed me, gesturing with her hands.  
I gave my thanks and was on my way.

"Come in" I heard Professor Clarybourne's voice in response to my knock.  
"Good evening" I said as I entered and made my way to his visitor's chair in front of his desk, which was littered with notepaper covered in cursive handwriting. The gentleman sat behind it had the typical professor look: unruly hair, glasses, seemingly looking for something in his notes, just as I had pictured him.  
"Dr. Reid, I suppose you're wondering why I called you in to speak to me personally?" he stated as I sat down. He supposed correctly.  
"Yes, I am actually. Is it bad?"  
"I wouldn't jump to any conclusions just yet. I had a few ideas from your letters but I wasn't going to diagnose you with anything from those – I'm not Freud, you understand?" I laughed at his joke, recalling from my bachelor's degree some of the famous psychologist's more dubious diagnostic methods. "I wanted to tell you in person that I would like to send you for a scan, and then I'd like you to be interviewed before I make any decisions."  
"I can do that" I said politely, "would that be with you?"  
"No, I'm busy with some research at the moment, but I've entrusted the task to one of my best students. This array here are the notes she made on your case" – he gestured to the pile of notepaper – "very insightful, I must say. Harvard graduate, lovely young lady, beautiful mind." He replied with a similar admiration in his voice as the woman in the office speaking of her sister.  
"That sounds great, will you send me the appointments again?"  
"Of course, I'll have Meghan or Sally from the office phone them through to you as they might be changed if the staff are busy so letters wouldn't be appropriate." The professor explained himself. "Although I doubt you'll have any problems with the interview, Heidi is very good like that. You actually just missed her, she wanted to stay but she had to get going and needed to speak to her sister before she left."  
I suddenly remembered the woman in the blue coat leaving earlier. _Heidi_. She seemed to be very popular with everybody here.  
Professor Clarybourne seemed to read my mind. "She is popular with everybody here, staff and patients. She came in today to spend time with some of our autistic patients. It made their day and gave some of the nurses a rest!"  
I smiled, "She seems like a good person."  
"Indeed, Dr Reid, anyway I must be getting ready to leave before they lock me in!" he said standing up to shake my hand which I shook firmly.  
"Thank you for your time, professor. Goodbye." I said laughing at his remark.  
"It's a pleasure. Goodbye, Dr. Reid."

* * *

Hiya, I just wanted to get both POVs out before I said anything about the story :) I hope it is enjoyable so far; I like reviews so feel free to post one, however small! Thank you to theimpossiblegirl13 for giving me my first one :)  
I will try to post regularly, I'm out of university at the moment so I have time to write and update quickly.  
Anyway, I hope you'll continue reading Mind over Matter - it shall be good, I promise!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_Heidi_

"That was such a great rehearsal, I definitely think we're ready for this show tomorrow, Heidi!" Lou-lou enthused, hugging my side as we walked out of the church hall on Friday evening.  
"Of course it was great, I was there!" Mina chimed in as she clambered up the hill behind us, clearly struggling with her bags.  
"I told you to wear sensible shoes…" Lou-lou criticised, evidently having already done his chivalrous deed for the day.  
"Well, I like to look the part sweetums. Have you ever seen a make-up artist/costume designer look bland on the job?!" Mina chided.  
"You take it too far." he replied under his breath, sideways glancing at her orange heels and matching oversized tote.

Llewlyn "Lou-lou" Cavena and Mina Flatherly were my closest friends and had been since I moved to the US to study. We now lived together in a tiny apartment near the park; Lou-lou and I attend school while Mina works as an editor for a local fashion magazine. A couple of years ago we formed a show choir for children and adolescents from underprivileged backgrounds and after a performance at Greenley we decided to invite local people suffering from mental and physical disorders. Vanessa attends sometimes, and it has proven to be helpful therapy for her, much to our delight. Lou-lou, a former ballet dancer, was the choreographer; Mina made sure everybody always looked incredible and I was the vocal coach and maestro. Today was our last rehearsal before our performance at the light festival this weekend.

"Do you think some of them might have trouble handling it?" Mina asked, concerned for some of the more timid members.  
"I spoke to Jack, Rachel and Leah about it and all three meditated with me."  
"Meditated?" she sounded mock-inquisitive.  
"Yes meditated, it's a highly reputable method of relaxation and if they do it again before the show, I think they'll feel able to perform." I gave her my most professional graduate voice, teasing her.  
"You're the expert!" she replied, equally teasing.  
"Exactly, you're wrong so stop being picky" – Lou-lou said sternly, winking at me. And that was it, the gauntlet had been thrown down and I was caught in the middle of round one-million-and-one since I'd met them.

When we returned home I checked my emails to find a message from Professor Clarybourne asking me if I would be able to interview Dr. Spencer Reid, who he revealed to be the person's case I researched. What a great opportunity! Though a bit daunting – what if I do something wrong and he's diagnosed with something when he shouldn't be or not when he should be?! What if he thought, as a doctor himself, I didn't know what I was doing as I was still training? Stop it, I thought, William would kill you if he knew you were doubting yourself – your conviction is your most powerful tool, he'd say. I took a deep breath and continued reading the email. The interview was scheduled for Monday morning after my therapy session with one the patients which meant I had Sunday to review his case and plan my questions. Busy weekend!

Our afternoon rehearsals flew by the next day leaving us to enjoy some of the festival before our performance. I was feeling a little nervous myself now: Mina had taken it upon herself to dress me in a knee-length, electric blue lace dress and way-too-dangerous nude heels. I tottered around clinging to Lou-lou who she had convinced to wear a blue dress shirt for the event. Anybody would think we had followed a theme until they saw Mina in a red chiffon cocktail dress, bustling around members of the choir, who she had also dressed in red.

Lou-lou tutted mockingly at Mina making clear beelines for the choir members, touching-up their hair, dabbing blush on their cheeks, tying and re-tying bows on dresses…  
"She's out of hand" he said, a smile in his voice. He secretly adored Mina but would never let her know it, preferring instead to tease her.  
I laughed, "she's having the time of her life, and when do they ever get to do stuff like this other than with us?"  
"True, they love it" he admitted, "but in general, she's out of hand" he added.  
Just as I jokingly hit his arm in response, I felt something fall into the back of my legs, knocking me forwards.  
"What on earth…?" Lou-lou began as he wrapped his arm around my waist to steady me.  
"Sorry Heidi!" I turned to see my sister on the grass behind us. "I rushed over and just fell, you know what we Ashvilles are like!" she gushed, referring to the clumsiness that seems to have cursed our family.  
"Definitely! Don't worry about it, Meg!" – I helped her to her feet – "how're you anyway?"  
"Oh you know, work, Beth, Harry, work, Hannah, Amy!" she said quickly, gesturing to her family stood at a stall nearby. "Never have kids Llewelyn" she added as she noticed him giggling, "and never get married either!".  
"Wouldn't dream of it, Meghan!" he laughed.  
"That goes for you too, missy" she said pointing at me, "study, be a doctor, change the world, don't get bogged down with a man!" she exclaimed.  
While Meghan loved her family, I have always had the impression she regrets not continuing her education in favour of marrying young. I try to share my experiences as much as possible with her to make up for it; when her youngest Beth, turned 3, I helped her get her job at Greenley. Now I know she's happy with her slice of independence and it's lovely to see.  
"Speaking of darling," she began as she led me away from Lou-lou, who promptly feigned hurt before walking toward the stage, "did you see that handsome gentleman sat in the waiting area last Thursday?"  
"Oh yes?" I said, recalling the tall, semi-dark-haired man fiddling with the fern on table, "he seemed very preoccupied with the décor."  
"No you pumpkin! He seemed quite pre-occupied with you!" she scolded.  
"You're the pumpkin, Meghan, I might have caught his attention when wished him a good evening." I explained.  
"Darling baby sister, you have much to learn. Which I'm secretly glad of, I might add."  
"Whatever you say, but I have to get going, Lou-lou and Mina look like they're about to have another altercation!" I said, nodding over her shoulder in the direction of the pair in heated debate, apparently over the hairbrush in Lou-lou's hand.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_Spencer_

"You're not seriously wearing that, are you?" Garcia sounded disappointed as she assessed my choice of a stripy jumper and grey slacks for the light festival.  
"What's wrong with it?" I asked, a little hurt.  
"You look like you're going to work, Spence." JJ was little more forgiving than the rest of the team stood in the living area of my apartment, all dressed rather formerly.  
"Not just that, going to work a few years ago, I haven't seen that jumper in a few years, kid." Morgan said from the table, thumbing through Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina.  
"I found it last week when I was cleaning out my apartment. You know research has suggested that finding and revisiting past…"  
"We're going to be late, and Alex is in the car with the boys, lord knows what torture they're putting her through." Rossi reminded everyone, cutting me off. I was going to say that past objects can be useful for people to think about how their life has changed in looking at something concrete.  
"Come on, pretty boy, let's turn you into something our fairy godmother would approve of!" Morgan said getting up and heading into my bedroom much to Garcia's delight.

Fifteen minutes later I playing 'I spy' with Jack and Henry in the back of JJ and Will's car. They were as happy as me to find out that the women (and Morgan) had finally agreed on a dark purple dress shirt and grey blazer. I didn't understand what fuss was all about, I wasn't at all bothered about what I looked like. For me, fashion was a paradox, everybody wants to be an individual, edgy and extraordinary, but in the end looks like everybody else for fear of actually being extraordinary in a conformist culture.  
"We're here guys." Will called back to us as he pulled over next to the park.  
"We're going to see the fireworks, Spencer!" Henry punched the air in celebration.  
"That's right Henry" I said, unbuckling him, "but first you have to go with your dad and Jack and his dad to get a hotdog" I finished, tickling his tummy.

It was really busy at the entrance; I could only see Morgan and Hotch scanning the crowd for us.  
"The choir's performance is in about 10 minutes which is promised to be the highlight of the evening so Penelope, Alex and Dave have gone to get us a good spot." Hotch informed us before he set off with Will to find refreshments.  
Morgan, JJ and I walked joined the crowd of people in search of the others.  
"I bought a blanket for you my lovelies," Garcia pointed to the checked fabric on the floor when we arrived at their chosen spot, almost at the front, facing centre stage.  
"Better get settled in guys, the show's about to start, look!" Blake nodded towards the spotlights illuminating the stage.  
Slowly a mass of choristers, clad in red, trickled out onto the stage, the younger ones holding hands. When they settled, a tall man, in his mid-twenties strode across to the middle,  
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, we are Universe and we have put together a show that we hope you'll enjoy on this fine autumn evening. Your maestro for this evening is our much-loved Heidi Ashville" – I felt my eyes widen and my mouth open slightly; could it be the young woman that evening at Greenley hospital? – "enjoy the show!".  
The crowd cheered and clapped as the same blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman walked purposefully across the stage. She kissed the cheek of the tall man as he left before smiling and curtseying to show the crowd her thanks before turning her back.  
"She's so pretty!" Garcia whispered.  
"Hey mama, what about me?" Morgan replied, his hand on his chest.  
"Oh honeybun, you go without saying!" Garcia laughed, patting his hand.  
"Ssh!" I hushed them, trying to focus on the choir. I felt several pairs of eyes on me as I did so, but quickly forgot as the choir began singing, each chorister fixated on Heidi. Her hands guided them through the words to Elton John's "Your Song" – with each of them looking so animated, it was truly a marvellous sight.

As they reached the middle of their second song – John Lennon's "Imagine" – Henry returned with some candyfloss and asked to sit with me.  
"They're really good, aren't they, Spencer?" he praised, mid-mouthful, as he dropped to the floor by my legs.  
"Indeed, they are," I replied, my hand rubbing his tiny shoulder as my eyes remained consumed with the stage. As is their leader, I thought to myself, as I watched Heidi. I wondered what else she did, doctoral student, volunteer, maestro… she was undoubtedly a remarkable woman.

As the choir came to the end of their third song, a less explicit version of Halestorm's "Here's to us", the festival staff made their way to the front of the stage to light the fireworks.  
Jack and Henry jumped up as they saw the rockets shoot into the air and showering the crowd in technicolour light. Hotch and Will lifted the boys up to give them a better view of the sparkles; they laughed and screamed in response. As the last of the fireworks fizzled, the crowd "oooh"-ed as the first bars of Katy Perry's "Firework" played, clearly intended to be punny.  
"I love this song!" Garcia gushed as the choir reappeared, now making their way into the audience, singing through the first verse. As the chorus approached, a spotlight revealed Heidi, the tall man and a brunette dressed in red in centre stage, singing the lead between them. Jack and Henry squealed as more fireworks lit up the sky, illuminating the crowd and the choristers, now singing and dancing with each other and anybody who'd join in. The lead trio walked forwards, heading straight for us, stopping and dancing with members of the crowd as they moved. I cast my mind back to Garcia's comment earlier: Heidi was very pretty, even more so now, her bright blue eyes as iridescent as the rockets above our heads, enjoying every moment of something she visibly loved.

"Wait, Henry!" JJ shouted, rushing to chase him as he dashed forwards. I stepped forward, unnecessarily it seemed, as Heidi grabbed his hands and twirled him back towards his mother, smiling at his enthusiasm. I could feel my face fall slightly as the tall man pulled her arm as he turned left before she could go any further. Their performance ended with the rest of the choir in the middle of the crowd – Hotch was right, it really was the highlight of the evening!

As we walked around the stalls half an hour later, Henry tugged on Garcia's dress, "can we go and meet the nice lady?" he asked, pointing towards Heidi, the tall man and the brunette stood talking to a couple of reporters.  
"I don't see why not, sweetheart. Come on Derek, let's give the full-timers a rest!" she replied, referring to a somewhat frazzled-looking JJ, Will and Hotch. Morgan took Henry and Jack's hands after throwing the oversized and overstuffed teddy bear he was carrying at me.  
"Come on, Spencer!" Henry cried and jumped up and down to get my attention.  
"I think I'd rather stay here and look after Jack's catch…" I said, holding up the cuddly toy.  
"Oh, come on Reid, I'm sure you'd love to meet the nice lady too!" he winked at me.  
"Of course he would!" Garcia grabbed my wrist and pulled me along with them.  
I really didn't. Heidi would have enough of a chance to discover my peculiarity in her interview next week when she found out I was the head-case she had researched, without me inevitably saying something weird right now as a complete stranger and making it worse.

* * *

Hi again :)  
Thank you for the views and reviews so far! I know it's moving a little slowly but I want to try and make it special.  
So, what do you all think will happen when they meet?  
I hope to keep the updates coming regularly so keep checking back!  
Thanks for reading :D


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_Heidi_

Lou-lou engulfed Mina and I in a hug as our final performance ended; the choir gathered around us, hugging and high-fiving each other – they deserved to be so pleased, the show was our best yet.  
"Congratulations guys!" I kissed both Lou-lou and Mina's cheeks before joining the celebrations of the choir.

"How was that, Leah?" I took one of our more timid members to a nearby bench. Leah had suffered from anorexia since she was nine years old; now fourteen she had learnt to live a healthier lifestyle but still struggled with social anxiety.  
"I forgot some of the words and choreography." She said sadly, looking into her lap.  
"Even so, you performed brilliantly, the show was a great success – look at all those people you made so happy" – I gestured to the now-dispersing crowd – "and the whole of Universe is so proud of you." I reassured her.  
She smiled shyly, "I think the meditation beforehand really helped, thank you Heidi."  
"No worries, Leah. And you know what?"  
"What is it?" she asked.  
"I definitely forgot to bring the tenors in before the altos in Imagine. Don't tell Lou-lou though, he'll throw a tantrum about my spaghetti arms not being up to the job again!" I winked, much to her amusement.  
"Sorry Heidi, we have some reporters that want to speak to us," Lou-lou said quietly, appearing beside me.  
"Okay, one minute." I replied, " join Jack and Isabelle, Leah, they look like they're waiting for you" I turned back to the chorister sat next to me, gesturing to the pair stood next to the fountain.  
She smiled again before hugging me and walking to join her friends.  
"You're really good with her, you know? In fact, you're good with all of them." Lou-lou said kindly as we walked toward Mina, flirting with the reporters. "But for the record, I did notice your spaghetti arms but considering the crowd loved us, I'm willing to forgive them, just this once."  
"You cheeky…"  
"Good evening Miss Ashville, Mr Cavena," one of them greeted us somewhat unemotionally, clearly the serious one sent to babysit the over-excited blonde bouncing up and down next to him.  
"The show was so great! It looked like you gave it your all – what have you enjoyed most? Were there any complications? What made you start the choir?" he gushed.

Mina, Lou-lou and I spent the next ten minutes answering their questions – for an article in the local paper, they had told us.  
"I think that's all we'll need – it seems you have fans to attend to." The way-to-serious reporter/babysitter said as he shut the notebook of his charge and pushed him towards the exit.  
I turned around to see a little boy with long blonde hair beaming up at me.  
"Hello there, what's your name?" I asked the boy, crouching down in front of him.  
"I'm Henry," he said politely, holding his hand out, which I shook gently.  
"YOU need to slow down little man!" said a tall, dark and muscular man coming to halt behind him.  
A bleached-blonde, spectacled lady came to a stop at his right, a little pink from running as well, I guessed. My eyes widened slightly as the semi-dark haired man who had sat Greenley's waiting room fiddling with the fern last Thursday, appeared on the left, holding a huge teddy bear. He looked a little apprehensive, hanging back slightly.  
"What's your name?" Henry interrupted my thoughts.  
"My name is Heidi, it's nice to meet you Henry. Are these your friends?"  
"Yep, this is Derek" – he pointed to the tall, dark, muscular man – "this is Penelope" – he pointed to the bleached-blonde lady – "and this is Spencer," he finished, pointing to Greenley's plant enthusiast. Feeling the cogs twist and turn in my brain, I blinked twice, _Spencer_. I felt like I should have realised something but it was too rude to deliberate at length.  
"I see, these are my friends, Llewlyn and Mina" I replied gesturing with both hands, putting my thoughts aside.  
"You were really good, we all liked your singing!" he said looking at the floor, embarrassed with all eyes on him.  
"Thank you very much, did you like the fireworks too?" I said, smiling.  
"They were great!" he said jumping up and down.  
I laughed, standing up again to face Derek, Penelope and Spencer, "it's nice to meet you," I said, "and I'm glad you all enjoyed the show, thank you for your words Henry" I added, looking down at him.  
"He sure knows how to impress an English lady, well done little man, to have mastered something in one conversation, that has taken me years to do!" Lou-lou complimented, high-fiving Henry.

"Do you work with the choir full-time?" Derek asked.  
"Oh no, I'm an editor and Heidi and Llewlyn are in college, we don't have that kind of time on our hands! Two or three nights a week, usually." Mina said quickly.  
"We know that story, don't we guys?" Penelope said dryly.  
"What do you do?" I asked  
"We all work for the FBI, I'm a technical analyst, Derek and Spencer are profilers." She said, "what are you guys studying?" She sounded genuinely intrigued and Derek smiled. I noticed Spencer was keeping quiet.  
"I'm in my final year, majoring in Business." Llewlyn said proudly.  
"And I'm in my final year too, studying for my doctorate in psychology and neuropsychology" I said, fully aware of the next question.  
"Wow, how old are you?" Derek's eyes squinted as he grinned.  
"I'm 25, I graduated two years early to study neuroscience from scratch whilst completing my masters in psychology so I could combine them in my PhD." I explained.  
"She's our resident genius." Mina said proudly, putting her arm around my shoulders. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Spencer's head snap up to look at me quizzically for a split-second before returning his gaze to the floor.  
Penelope gasped and clapped her hands together, "well then, I suppose we'd better formerly introduce ours then!" – she reached across Derek to pull Spencer forwards, much to his chagrin – "this is _Dr_. Spencer Reid, our expert on almost everything."  
"I already said that," Henry piped up, earning a chuckle from Derek.  
It suddenly clicked and I resisted the urge to clap my hand to my mouth. This was my interviewee-to-be! I had researched this man's case. Oh my gosh, I have to talk to William, this isn't allowed – it is such bad conduct to know the subject outside of the parameters of the case.  
"Reid." Derek said sternly, as if to snap him out of a trance.  
"Um, sorry, hello," he said quietly, smiling politely and cautiously holding out his hand.  
"Good evening, Dr, Reid." I said, lightly squeezing his hand, "glad to meet you." And I was glad, even though I was technically not allowed to be part of his case anymore, which was a little irritating. Even so, he seemed like a good man, there was nothing wrong with being a little shy. I noticed his hazel eyes soften with the compliment and he smiled more genuinely than before.  
"It feels like some weird, smarty-pants connection is being made here!" Mina giggled.  
"I hear you – somewhere in the universe, two planets are aligning…" Penelope agreed, waving her hands in a mock-spooky fashion.  
Spencer blushed a little at her words and retreated backwards again.  
"It was lovely meeting you all, but I think we should be getting back to the choir, some of our younger members might be getting a bit tired." Lou-lou spoke, causing me to reflexively look at my watch. 9pm – way past our younglings' bedtimes!  
"Of course, we should be getting back too, shouldn't we little man?" Derek replied, taking Henry's hand.  
"We hope to be seeing you again soon!" Penelope added.  
"Goodnight." Spencer said quietly, his eyes meeting mine as he took Henry's other hand and waved with him. I smiled at their sweet gesture; noticing how they both seem to become more confident as a pair – they must have a special relationship.  
"Bye!" Lou-lou, Mina and I said together as we backed away and turned around in search of the choir.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_Spencer_

I clasped and unclasped my hands, making patterns with my fingers; I noticed how the glow from the streetlights flickered on my palms as Morgan drove down the almost-deserted streets toward my apartment.  
I cast my mind back to the light festival… the choir's performance… and Heidi. She definitely knew who I was; she recognised me from that evening at Greenley Hospital and right after Garcia introduced me by my title and full name she put two and two together. I saw her eyes widen and her right hand twitched as if she wanted to hide her expression. I half-expected the awkwardness to take over, but to my surprise she remained warm – or maybe that was politeness; why would she want anything to do with such a peculiar headcase?  
"You alright, Reid, you seem quite pre-occupied back there?" Morgan asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.  
"I'm fine, just tired." I said, unemotionally.  
"The choir leaders seemed really nice, didn't they?" Garcia said next to him.  
I glimpsed Morgan's eyes flicker to me in the rear-view mirror, "Yeah, they were, and to handle all those kids, that must take some doing," he replied.  
"What about you, Reid?" She turned to look at me, excitement in her eyes. I knew she was searching my face for answers; she thought Heidi and I had some obscure 'clever' connection. I didn't want to rain on her parade but I doubted we had or would ever have any connection, clever or otherwise. On top of her intelligence, she was beautiful, charismatic, talented and admired. I could only hold a candle to one of her traits; I was smart but I was also odd-looking, awkward and I could make infuriatingly annoying company.  
Sometimes I wondered what Maeve would have thought of me if she had survived. She might have loved my mind but what about everything that came with it – maybe it was best that I never had the chance to find out.  
"Reid." Morgan interrupted my thoughts again, although a part of me thanked him.  
"Sorry, um, yeah they were nice." I answered.  
Garcia turned back, disappointed.  
"We're here, kid, get some sleep and see you on Monday." Morgan called.  
"See you my lovely," Garcia added.  
"Goodnight, guys." I replied, getting out of the car and heading up to my floor.

I spent most of Sunday catching up on reading and consuming most of the coffee in my kitchen. I took a late shower, trying to relax before I went to bed. I wanted to at least give the impression that I wasn't mentally breaking apart even if my case notes suggested I was. I had felt another headache coming on since early afternoon; I had no idea what they meant but going on my family history it was unlikely to be nothing. Settling into bed, I fiddled with the corner of my pillow waiting for either sleep or the morning to come.

I awoke to the shrill of my alarm at 7am. Getting up, I moved almost robotically through my morning routine before heading to Greenley hospital. I was greeted by the same brown-haired nurse I met last week – Heidi's sister – upon my arrival. She led me through to a deserted corridor, where I'm guessing all the diagnostics and tests were carried out, and into a small interview room where I was met by a tall, Hispanic woman. She gestured for me to sit in a comfortable-looking chair opposite a coffee table before speaking.  
"My name is Sophia Cartlington. I'll be interviewing you today." – wait, what? I thought Heidi would be doing it? Sophia, seeing my puzzled expression, explained, "I believe you were told a Miss Ashville would be here. I'm sorry for your not being notified of the change of plan, she has been otherwise engaged."  
Slightly relieved, I exhaled. This meant I wouldn't have to face Heidi and have her truly think of me as a psychotic-in-the-making. I felt a twinge of sadness in my chest in response the explanation though, 'otherwise engaged' – what kind of excuse was that? Or maybe she had already had me figured out on Saturday evening and decided it wasn't for her.  
Sophia took her seat opposite me and began.

An hour later I was making my way out of the building. The interview was fairly reasonable; the questions were mainly about when the headaches came on, their severity when they did and what I thought of when the possibility of a schizophrenic break was put to me.  
I noticed several builders stood in a circle as I turned onto the main corridor. As I tried to get past, one of them held his hand out to stop me.  
"I'm sorry sir, you'll have to use the back exit."  
"Is everything alright?"  
"Yes sir, we have orders to take the floor up at the entry-way."  
"Ok." I turned back around and followed the signs to the back door.

Stepping outside, I found myself in a beautiful flower garden. Poppies, daisies, roses, lilies, daffodils surrounded small ponds, trees and benches. Following the stone path, I noticed a dark-haired girl and a taller male nurse talking to someone sat on one of the benches. They waved, saying what I assumed to be goodbyes, and carried on down the pathway, revealing the long, wavy blonde hair of a woman on the bench, crouched over a book. As I got closer, she looked up. It was Heidi.  
"Good morning, Dr. Reid." She said with a smile. I thought she was 'otherwise engaged'?  
"Hello." I stated, rather than greeted.  
"I trust your interview went well?"  
I cocked my head to the side. "It was alright, I guess."  
Her eyes squinted, "would you sit down a second, Dr. Reid?"  
I hesitated, "well, I…"  
"Please, it will only take a minute." She cut me off.  
I sat down reluctantly, "I have to be at w…"  
"I do apologise for the change of plan this morning," she began, cutting me off again. "However, I do have a reason. I am strong upholder of the integrity of scientific practise. A clinical diagnosis should be made on unbiased evidence. I was asked to interview you this morning, but I met you rather informally at the light festival on Saturday evening. Our meeting meant that you were informed of details about me which might have affected the way you answered my questions today. Therefore, I informed Professor Clarybourne that I thought it was best that somebody else, whom you have never met, take over." She spoke eloquently, explaining herself.  
Shocked at the rationality of her explanation, I began fiddling with my hands. "So, you arranged for somebody else to speak to me for the clarity of evidence?"  
"Yes, so Professor Clarybourne can make an accurate a diagnosis – if there is one to be made." She replied. "Why, did you think I met you and thought you were too weird for my liking?" she giggled.  
I pursed my lips and looked down at my hands, knowing how reckless I'd been in jumping to conclusions. I glanced sideways to see that her face had fallen.  
She closed her book and uncrossed her legs to lean down and pluck a poppy from the flower bed. Smoothing out the petals, she spoke again. "Dr. Reid. I will give you that my job involves a fair bit of judgement. Nevertheless, I do not believe that gives you adequate enough cause to jump to the conclusion that I am so judgemental. I am in this job to help people, not impose my own opinion on them and cherry-pick my favourites to work with. How do you say it here? I guess that's not how I roll."  
"I..." I tried to interject.  
"When I met you on Saturday, yes I was surprised, but only because I recognised you from the waiting room last Thursday evening. Now that I think about it, your hanging back was because you knew that I'd be able to identify you wasn't it? And you thought that I'd think back to your case notes and automatically label you a madman?" Her bright blue eyes were shimmered as she turned to look at me, I'd definitely upset her. She really was a good person and I'd judged her despite all the things I'd heard about her. She did what she did to help me as best she could.

"I…I'm sorry, I didn't mean…so you don't think…?" I wanted apologise and ask questions all at once.  
"No. I neither think you are weird nor mad." She looked straight into my eyes to show her sincerity. "Dr. Reid, you are an incredibly gifted individual and it makes me happy to know that you use your talent to help other people. But you spend so much of your time reading and analysing other people, you neither read nor help yourself properly." – her eyes became forlorn.  
"What do _you_ see?" I asked, not sure whether I wanted to hear it.  
"I see a man who has suffered a lot. Contrary to what you're probably thinking, I don' think you're a terrible person. Your thoughts were borne of your insecurities over your psyche, so let me tell you what I think. I very much doubt you are developing schizophrenia, I think you have projected your mother's symptoms onto yourself. You know that headaches are an early sign so you label them as a symptom of schizophrenia, neglecting any other explanations, of which there are many. You cannot concentrate because, deep down you are worrying about what it means to be categorized underneath that disorder, because your only experience of it is through your mother, which wasn't pleasant." Feeling my mouth dropping as she spoke, I pursed my lips and blinked. "I am not trying to undermine you Dr. Reid, rather give you my perspective. I know that you know a lot about this area and this is my point – I think, as opposed to schizophrenia, you are suffering from a self-fulfilling prophecy." She finished before smiling considerately.  
I felt my eyes blink several times before darting from my hands to the hospital building, to the garden and to Heidi. My thoughts had been clouded and she had seen straight through it. I didn't want to believe what she had said; it was simple and logical, what if I was too complicated for that? – I thought to myself, but secretly I knew she could very well be right.  
"You can choose to consider my evaluation or not, but I wish you would." she sensed my thoughts.  
"What do you suggest I can do?" I asked.  
"I think you need to find yourself something to do that's not related to your job or anything else. Your life revolves around categories and labels and probability and you need an outlet. Here," – she delved into her bag that was sitting next to her, rooting around until she pulled out a leaflet. – "you should come along, maybe it'll give you some ideas." She handed the leaflet to me, labelled "Universe" – her choir. She looked at her watch,"I'm sorry, but I have a lesson to get to. I'm glad we had this talk. See you soon." Heidi smiled politely, got up and walked quickly down the path, leaving the poppy in her seat.

I stared at the leaflet in my hands before picking up the poppy and twirling it in my fingers, admiring how the sunlight touched the petals. Professor Clarybourne was right, Heidi had a beautiful mind.

* * *

Sorry it's taken a couple of days to get this chapter done – I wanted it to tie things up for the next part of the story. Soooo, what do you think? Glad they got things cleared up? Please review, I like reading what you think!  
I just want to note that this is only my reasoning of Reid's symptoms. I'm not judging anybody living with schizophrenia or its associated disorders. What I say is for the purpose of my story.  
Thank you for reading! :)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_Heidi_

I sat in a local coffee shop, thumbing my way through a stack of research papers for my thesis. A shadow fell over my paper – looking up I saw Lou-lou had slid in to the chair opposite, holding two cups of hot chocolate.  
"You hate this stuff." He said nonchalantly, picking up the cold latte on the table and shaking it.  
"I know but I thought I might need the energy." I said, feeling and most likely looking, drained.  
"What's on your mind, Heidi? It's 8.30 in the evening, you haven't come home and you're sitting, reading in the shop you always sit and read in when something is on your mind." He said, proud of his analysis. I closed the paper I was reading and picked up the hot-chocolate.  
"I just had a bad day. I couldn't concentrate in class so I thought I'd better do something so I don't feel guilty." I replied, sadly. I hated it when things cropped up unexpectedly, changing my plans and mood so nothing gets done.  
"What happened?" he asked, concerned.

I wanted to tell him, I really wanted to but I didn't know if it's entirely appropriate. I wanted to tell Lou-lou all about how my conversation with Dr. Reid this morning had absolutely thrown me off my game for the day. That I was glad that he could have gotten something out of it, as that was always my intention, but he might have felt worse. That I certainly didn't feel brilliant that he'd believed I had ran for the hills when I saw him. Quite the opposite. Which was why I did what I had to do about the interview. My head kept telling me that it was because of his insecurities, as I'd explained to him, but my heart wasn't having any of it; it was sulking because its feelings had been hurt.  
I huffed, and patted the table several times before I spoke. "This morning I spoke to Dr. Reid, that guy at the light festival." I hoped he remembered.  
"The clever one?" Lou-lou clarified, raising an eyebrow.  
"Yes. Well, a few weeks ago, William consulted me about a case and I advised him on it. Last week he asked me to interview the patient, who he named as Dr. Reid, who I had also, unbeknownst to me, seen in the waiting room at Greenley last week. At the light festival I realised and on Sunday I told William I couldn't do the interview because it was against my values of practise. However, Dr. Reid, knowing I had seen his case, thought that I had just bundled him off on someone else, which I would never do." I fiddled with the corner of some paper on the table as I spoke solemnly.  
"Why does it bother you so much?" Lou-lou asked, placing his elbows on the table and resting his face on his hands.  
"Because I would never do that! I never abandon anyone Lou-lou!" I said a little louder than I should have.  
"Did you tell him that?" he went on.  
"Yes, I spoke to him this morning after he had his interview which is when it came out. I reassured him and told him what I actually thought about his case." _But I'm not sure what he thinks now.  
_"So what's the problem?" he said smiling. I rubbed my temples. "Heidi, you've done all you can, why beat yourself up?"  
"Because I don't know what he thinks now." I said quietly.  
"Darling, please be honest with yourself." He replied, cocking his head to the side.  
"How do you mean?" I glared at him.  
"Well, I know I'm not as much of an expert at reading the intricacies of the human mind as you are. However, you have said that you're hurt by his thinking you completely washed your hands of him and even after you've explained yourself, you're worried, which tells me you're either barking mad and need a stiff drink or you're attracted to him… and probably still need a stiff drink. So, which is it?" he finished, leaning backwards, crossing his arms and smirking.

Attracted to him? I mulled the thought over. I recalled Saturday evening, Dr. Reid was shy and reserved but mysteriously endearing. He was different this morning, a far cry from that night and from the fern-fiddling, last week. He was upset as well, thinking I'd given up on him. A fleeting thought imposed upon my reflections – maybe he was attracted to you too...? No, I rationalised, he was upset because he thought you'd written him off like so many people had written off his mother, feeding his anxiety over his mind. But Meghan had said that she thought she had seen something? Stop it, I told myself. I felt myself turning pink which only made Lou-lou grin and raise his eyebrows. "I…" I began but gave up quickly, realising I had no argument. Maybe he had a point, however much I didn't want to acknowledge it.  
"Heidi, don't be angry with yourself. You're 25 years old, it's normal." Lou-lou tried to reassure me, patting my hand on the table.  
"But I don't ever let myself get into these situations. And over a patient?! I might as well have left my clinical integrity at the door this morning, interviewed him myself and flung myself at him while I was at it!" I threw my hands in the air in frustration.  
"I wouldn't be going that fast, my darling." He giggled.  
"Llewlyn James Cavena!" I scowled at him, using his full name to annoy him.  
"Yes, Heidi Cecilia Ashville?" he countered, earning another glare. "Look, I know that you like control but trust me, please. This isn't as big of a deal as you're making it, just carry on as you are. Knowing you and William, this guy will be sorted in no time so you won't have to worry about all the fraternisation rules. After that it's up to you whether you want to pursue him or not, thought I would – FBI profiler, insanely clever, good-looking. He's a good catch." Lou-lou winked at me.  
I recalled how his long chestnut-brown hair fell over his face as he spoke this morning; how his hazel eyes scurried around his immediate panorama, take everything in; how his arms seemed like they'd create the most enjoyable embrace. I felt myself turning pink again, much to Lou-lou's delight.  
"Aww, my little English rose has a crush!" he said, grinning like a Cheshire cat.  
I rubbed my temples again. "It might not be as simple as you have described though, Lou-lou." I informed him.  
"Why?" he asked, leaning forward again.  
"Well, after I told him what I thought of his case, he asked me what he could do and…" I trailed off, mentally slapping myself, given my present enlightenment, for unknowingly over-complicating my situation this morning,  
"Aaaannnndd?" Lou-lou willed me to continue.  
"Um, well I said he needed to do something to give his mind a rest and to think about himself." I said robotically, staring at my hot chocolate. I saw the corners of Lou-lou's mouth turn upwards out of the corner of my eye. "So I invited him to rehearsals…" I finished, clapping my hands over my face and feeling like a typical schoolgirl.  
Lou-lou giggled and then laughed louder and louder until I hit his hand resting on the table.  
"Don't tell Mina!" I begged.  
"My darling, how can I keep such things from our Mina?!" he acted mock-surprised at my wish. "Besides, now we can all have a little fun." He winked at me and smiled gleefully.

This was a disaster in the making.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

_Spencer_

"Hey, you alright, Reid?" Morgan asked as he and Blake made coffee.  
"I'm fine." I lied, picking at my lunch on the kitchen table.  
"You've not been yourself since last week. Has somebody upset you? I'll send them a virus if they have!" Garcia began plotting as she sat down opposite me.  
"Slow down, baby girl." Morgan said, standing beside her and handing her and me a coffee. "But, seriously, has someone said something to you?" he continued, concern in his voice.  
"No, it's fine." I lied again.  
"Well you know where we are if you need us, ok?" he said. Garcia nodded and smiled before the pair headed back into the bullpen.

I had started bagging up my unfinished lunch when Blake, who I'd thought had been more preoccupied with the microwave for the last few minutes, replaced Garcia opposite me.  
"I can tell you're lying, Spencer." She said, clasping her hands on the table.  
"I don't know what you mean."  
"You began with the first person pronoun, 'I' when Morgan asked if you were alright. When the possibility of somebody upsetting you arose, you moved to the slightly more ambiguous pronoun, 'it', which suggests there is indeed something." Blake replied articulately, her expertise as a linguist, evident.  
Annoyed that I'd been discovered, I looked to the right. This was probably how most people felt when I reeled off statistical probability and the state of knowledge on a subject.  
"What's the matter?" she asked, trying to get my attention again.  
Giving in, I turned to look at her, "It's actually the other way around. I think I've upset somebody." In fact I know I've upset Heidi, and she didn't deserve it at all.  
"What did you do?"  
"I jumped to conclusions when they were just trying to help me." I looked down, shame colouring my cheeks.  
"Have you spoken to them?" she queried.  
"Yes, but not properly, I didn't get a chance to apologise." I answered, fiddling with the cuff of my cardigan.  
"Dr. Spencer Reid not being able to get a word in edgeways? I find that hard to believe!" she laughed, trying to lighten the mood. When I didn't respond, she continued, "Look, I doubt this is irreversible damage. Call them or even better, go and see them and say your peace." She rationalised.

I had been debating with myself over going to Universe's rehearsals and seeing Heidi, again. I want to go to both give her idea a try and, like Blake said, to talk to her to make amends for upsetting her with my assumptions. However, I doubt I could get a chance to speak to her without her friends noticing and then they might find out how horrible I had been to her which I imagine wouldn't go down well. But if I don't go she might be more offended. I've reached an impasse.

My thoughts were interrupted by Hotch poking his head around the door, "we have a case, conference room in 5", before heading up to his office.  
"Well I guess whatever you decide to do, it'll have to wait!" Blake said, getting up. "But don't worry yourself, Spencer." She smiled as she left the room.  
I sighed and followed her out and up to meet the team.

Garcia was setting up as I took my seat between Morgan and Rossi.  
"Everybody ready?" she asked, earning all our nods, "Ok. Right. Two skeletons have been found in the foundations of a local psychiatric hospital. After close assessment, it is believed that they had been decapitated before burial." She gestured to the screen where the remains were shown.  
"How long have they been down there?" Morgan asked.  
"At least two years." She replied quickly.  
"Why have we been asked to assist now?" Rossi chimed in beside me.  
"The police department believe this to be another in a string of similar homicides."  
"Why haven't we heard of this before?" JJ asked.  
"It was a cold case." Garcia said, looking forlorn.  
"How cold?" Rossi asked.  
"Six years, sir."  
"How is it linked to other cases?" Hotch speculated.  
"Well, about seven years ago the Department of Health planned to set up ten psychiatric hospitals across the US to help with the growing demand of mental health aid. Within a year, each hospital was up and running." She flashed several pictures of hospitals up on her screen. "And here's the creepy bit, every two years, each hospital gets a once-over and for the last six years, two decapitated skeletons have been found in the foundations of one of the hospitals when it gets its check-up."  
"This unsub is clearly organised and the decapitation would suggest a message – Garcia, could you draw up a list of everyone lodging complaints against the Department of Health? This could be personal." I stated.  
"I can do that," she chirped.  
"Ok, let's get going and see what else the police have uncovered. Garcia, what was the name of the hospital?"  
"Greenley, sir."  
I dropped my notebook as she spoke, suddenly recalling the builders taking up the floor in the main corridor on Monday. Oh my, the staff will recognise me and the team will find out I've been going there and want to know why. Brilliant. I only prayed Heidi was in class so I didn't have to explain that mess as well.

Upon arrival, we were met by a tall, dark-haired man holding a stack of papers.  
"Good afternoon, I'm Dr. Clarence Haylesbury, the director of Greenley Hospital. The police are in one of our conference rooms making their enquiries. We have set up the adjacent room for you to work in."  
"Thank you doctor, but we usually…" Hotch began.  
"I'm aware that you usually do not set up shop at the crime scene," Dr Haylesbury cut him off, "however, this is a residential psychiatric institution. Our patients are very unsettled with what's been happening here. Some of our them are easily agitated by strangers coming and going and wandering around as they please. For that reason we have provided rooms for you to work in while you're here for everybody's comfort." He explained himself.  
"We understand, could you show us where we are based?"  
"Of course, right this way." He gestured and began walking around the front entrance, which had been cordoned off, through the gardens and in the backdoor.  
A nurse ran up to us as we entered, "Dr. Haylesbury, you're need in the east building!" she panted.  
He turned to us and apologised, "I have to go, if you follow this corridor, take the first right, the third left and the next right, it's rooms 47 and 48."  
"Don't worry about us, do what you need to do." Hotch ushered him off with the nurse.  
"You get that, Reid?" Morgan asked me, "lead the way".

Ten minutes later, we were still wandering the corridors of the hospital.  
"I thought you could remember everything you hear?" Rossi asked.  
"I can, he must've got it wrong, we definitely followed his instructions." I defended myself.  
"This is a bad omen." Morgan said, looking around.  
"Dr. Reid?" I heard a familiar voice behind me. _Oh no_.

I turned slowly, to see Heidi stood looking up at me questioningly. She seemed a bit shorter today. She held a stack of paperwork, much like everybody else working here, it seemed, and was straining her eyes to look at me over her glasses, perched on her nose.  
Feeling the whole team's eyes on my back, probably angry at my not taking the opportunity to ask for directions, I opened my mouth to speak, "Um, h-hello." I stammered, hearing Morgan, chuckle behind me.  
She peered around me and waved, my guess was to Morgan, before looking up at me and raising her left eyebrow quizzically, "Are you lost?". Her cheeks were a little pinker than when I saw her on Monday.  
"Yes, we are, could you please direct us to where the police have convened?" Rossi came up behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder. I heard JJ and Morgan chuckle at his subtle jibe at my apparent loss of direction.  
"Of course," she smiled, "this way," she gestured back the way we came.  
"Cat got your tongue as well as your brain today?" Morgan said, grinning, as we followed Heidi.  
"Here we are," she chirped, showing us the doors 47 and 48.  
"Thank you, Miss…" Hotch started.  
"Ashville. Heidi Ashville." she shook his hand politely. "The police are in room 47, you are in room 48. As far as I know there is a pager in there. If you need anything, page 8279 and I'll try to help as best I can, if not, page the main office on 7777 and they'll send somebody." She spoke eloquently, looking at each of us in turn.  
"You're very kind, Miss Ashville." Hotch thanked her.  
"Ok then, good luck and goodbye!" she smiled widely before making her way back down the corridor.  
Everyone stared after her, then looked at me before following Hotch's lead into our room.

Excellent, I was bound to be interrogated about this later.

* * *

Hi again :)  
Thank you for the views and reviews so far, I'm glad people are reading and (hopefully!) liking the story! I know it's moving pretty slowly at the moment, but I like to make sure things are clear and somewhat believable!  
If my posts get a bit less regular this coming week, I apologise, as I'm travelling to see a friend so I won't be able to get to my computer.  
I hope you keeping reading, thank you :)


	9. Chapter 9

Hi, sorry that it has taken me a few days to update – I only got back from visiting my friend yesterday.  
I hope this chapter is okay – I'm hoping to get things moving a bit faster now that the initial groundwork is there!  
Thanks for your views, reviews, follows and favourites! I'll try and update again tomorrow (English time!). :)

* * *

Chapter 9

_Heidi_

"So, what are we rehearsing tonight, the group or solo numbers?" Mina asked over breakfast on Thursday morning.  
"That depends if Lou-lou returns to planet Earth to run through the choreography before this evening" I said wryly, ruffling the hair of my slightly comatose-looking housemate, falling asleep in his breakfast next to me.  
"I don't know if that's likely…" Mina replied, raising her eyebrows.  
"Mmmm?" Lou-lou surfaced.  
"Will you be coming to practice tonight?" I asked, smiling sweetly.  
"Maybe, if you can cook me something a little more inspirational than this." – he gestured to his breakfast of porridge and orange juice.  
"Huh! _Sorry_ sleepyhead, I have several articles to go through." Mina stated, taking a sip of coffee, prompting Lou-lou to slump back onto the table.  
"I'm at Greenley today so I'm afraid you'll have to…" I started before he suddenly bolted upright as if something had caught his attention.  
He raised a finger to accentuate his point, "I am coming", before turning to me and smirking. The penny dropped and I sighed. I thought he'd forgotten about my inviting Dr. Reid to our rehearsals since he hadn't turned up to a session yet. Evidently not.  
"Am I missing something?" Mina chimed in, waving at us.  
Lou-lou smiled knowingly, looking at me out of the corner of his eyes before drinking his juice. I glared in response.  
"Well?" she pressed.  
"Heidi has invited a friend to join us at rehearsals," he said innocently.  
"Oh I see, that's alright, the way you two were carrying on I thought it was some juicy gossip."  
"Not quite." I replied, mentally thanking Lou-lou for not dropping me in it.  
"Anybody I know?" she continued.  
"Well, kind of…" I began, before Lou-lou interrupted.  
"Yes." He said nonchalantly, taking a bit of his breakfast before adding, "the smarty-pants FBI profiler from the light festival." He turned to look at me, making me blush a light pink._ The little git_.  
Mina looked surprised then her eyes narrowed and she smiled gleefully.  
"Don't even…" I began before being cut off by both of their giggles. I rubbed my temples and got up, grabbing my bag and heading for the door.  
"Heidi! Don't leave! We have to talk!" Mina shouted after me. I turned and shook my head.  
"I have to get going, I'm going to be late. And there's nothing to talk about!" I said, backing away.  
"See you tonight, Heidi…" Lou-lou waved his fingers at me, taking another bite of his porridge.  
I rolled my eyes, before being on my way.

Half an hour later I arrived at Greenley to find it had turned into something out of Law and Order. The front entrance was enclosed behind police tape; men in white overalls stood talking quietly over clipboards; police officers were everywhere.  
"Can I see some identification, please?" I jumped and turned to find one behind me. I fished in my bag to find my staff ID card and pager, which I held up for approval.  
"I'm afraid you'll have to use the back entrance, Miss Ashville." He replied, logging my details on a register.  
"What is going on?" I asked. I hoped the patients were safe – had something happened to one of them?  
"The maintenance team found the remains of two bodies in the foundations of the main corridor. The FBI are on their way. You'll know more when we do." The police officer ushered me towards the back entrance, obviously having repeated this information on many an occasion this morning. I smiled my thanks and made my way around the hospital to the back door.

I was met with unadulterated pandemonium as I walked through the corridors – people were everywhere; doctors were sectioning off parts of the hospital for its usual and new occupants; nurses were trying their best to keep the patients out of the way, much to their displeasure, understandably. This was, for most of them, their home – anybody would be anxious if the police and FBI were patrolling their home. I spotted Professor Clarybourne making evident his plain annoyance with the situation as he spoke in hushed tones with a police officer.  
"Is everything alright, William?" I asked, walking up to them.  
"Everything is completely wrong my dear. These people don't seem to understand the gravity of their presence here. We have given them rooms to work in but they insist on wandering the corridors which is upsetting the patients."  
"Professor, we understand…" the police officer began.  
"But you clearly don't. The patients of this hospital come first, your investigation second. I will ask you again. Keep as many of your people away from my people as possible!" he was turning red with anger.  
"Sir, I know you have a job to do but you should not treat this as a normal investigation. How about you give us time to get the patients settled in the East building and then you can continue with whatever you have to do?" I tried to reason with both of them.  
"Capital idea, Heidi!" William clapped his hands.

An hour later things were much more settled with the investigative teams and the patients in separate parts of the hospital. I was walking through each corridor, making sure we hadn't missed or lost anybody, when I noticed a small group of people walking up and down and looking around corners as if they were lost. Making my way up to them, I recognised the muscular stature of one; getting closer I realised him the one of the other FBI agents I met at the light festival, which surely meant…  
My eyes fell on him squinting his eyes and cocking his head to the side as he visibly thought about something, looking around the corridor for more information. His unruly hair fell in front of his eyes as it did on Monday morning when he was pondering something. I took my chance to sneak up behind him as he turned around.  
"Dr. Reid?" I asked quietly.  
He was motionless for a second before turning to look down at me. I willed my cheeks to stay pale as I stared into his eyes as he spoke.  
"Um, h-hello" he faltered, earning a giggle from the other agent, whose name had escaped me. I moved to get a closer look and waved in response to his friendly smile. Moving back, I raised an eyebrow at Dr. Reid.  
"Are you lost?" I asked.  
Before he could answer another, unfamiliar man came up behind him, "Yes, we are, could you please direct us to where the police have convened?" he asked politely, though I sensed a jibe as I heard laughs from behind the pair.  
"Of course, this way" I replied, walking in the direction of the West side, where we had allocated rooms to the police and FBI.  
Upon my arrival I gratefully accepted the thanks of another unfamiliar man, though I guessed he was quite important given the others' behaviour around him. I gave them my pager number before I left, in case they needed anything. Part of me didn't want them wandering around and upsetting the patients; another part of me didn't want William or any of the other staff to have another altercation with them but a small part of me, hidden in the depths of my consciousness wanted to see Dr. Reid again. He had done his best to avoid my eyes as I said my goodbye – was he embarrassed that he got lost?

I spent most of my morning helping the nurses keep the patients entertained, most of whom we had asked to gather in one of the common rooms. Around lunchtime I decided to look for Vanessa who had been allowed to stay in one of the side rooms along the East corridor. I knocked on the door before putting my head around it. She was hunched over the table by the window, drawing.  
"Are you alright Vanessa?" I asked her.  
She turned around and beckoned me to come in. "Look, Heidi," she held up her drawing of the part of the garden she could see from the window. I recognised the bench by the poppies as the same bench Dr. Reid had sat on to talk with me on Monday. It seemed like ages ago, even if only four days had passed.  
"That's beautiful, how long did it take you to do?" I asked.  
"I started it when I came in two hours and thirty-five minutes ago." She smiled shyly before continuing, "do you want to put it on your wall?"  
"Don't you want to keep it? It would look lovely on the noticeboard in your room." I replied, wanting her to keep some of her masterpieces for herself.  
"No, it would look better with all of the others on your wall."  
"Thank you, Vanessa, I'll put it up this afternoon next to the others. Do you want me to ask one of the nurses to bring you something to eat?" She had her usual water-bottle but I doubted she'd been given any lunch yet.  
She nodded, "yes please, Heidi." I made my way back to the door as she quietly added, "Have a good day."  
"I hope so, you have good day too Vanessa." I smiled at her growing confidence.

Twenty minutes later I was putting up the picture in my office when my pager bleeped, "Room 48, FBI." it read. I grabbed my bag and walked quickly down the corridors towards the room on the West side.  
I knocked and entered to find three of the agents at the table, one of whom was Dr. Reid, sat sifting through some paperwork.  
"That was fast…" the older-looking agent greeted me.  
"Yes, I was just in my office around the corner." _Ha, lie._  
"Do you have an archive of former patients on site?" he continued.  
"I believe so. I think it's in the basement." I replied, looking towards the ceiling in thought.  
"Would you be able to show me – we need to check something out." Dr. Reid asked politely, looking up at me for a moment, catching me off guard.  
Clasping my hands together, I spoke, "yes, of course, but we'll have to get to the main office to get the keys."  
I thought of Lou-lou's smirk this morning; he would love this. Catching myself fiddling with the waistband of my skirt and I mentally slapped myself for fidgeting. _Stop it_.  
"That's fine. Let's go." He got up quickly and opened the door for me.  
Smiling at his manners I walked back out into the corridor. This should be interesting…


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

_Spencer_

"This is nice!" Morgan praised our on-site quarters.  
The room was simply decorated, magnolia paintwork and oak-wood furnishings by the look of the markings and colour. A large circular table stood in the centre of the room, accompanied by claret-red, cushioned chairs; a bottle of water and a notebook in each space. I suspected it was used as a boardroom.  
"Reid, do you want to start on the geographical profile. Rossi and Blake, got through the information we have with Reid and then take a look at the burial site here for anything new. JJ, can you assist the policemen outside, we don't want the media getting hold of anything if this is a result of a personal vendetta. Morgan and I will head to the lab to see if they have got anything on the remains. Call us if you have anything." Hotch assigned our tasks before heading back out the door.

Two large maps had been pinned to the wall, one of the USA and another of the immediate area around the hospital. I immediately began my work: before Greenley Hospital, two hospitals had been targeted in Sacramento, California, and Little Rock, Arkansas. _A big jump_, I thought. The reports found nobody suspicious travelling in and out of the states at the time the hospitals had been built or when any of them were due their maintenance check so this unsub must have a concealable form of travel if they were dumping the bodies themselves.  
"Right, let's get this straight." Rossi reasoned. "Garcia said the bodies found here had been buried for at least two years, what about the others?" He began scribbling details on a whiteboard next to the maps.  
"Exactly the same, the bodies have been down there for at least two years in both locations." I recalled from the reports I had read in the car.  
"So the unsub is either burying the bodies every two years in a different hospital…" Blake thought out-loud.  
"Which would be a massive operation given the security in these places." Rossi chimed in.  
"Or all of the bodies were buried when the hospitals were built, that is, assuming all of the hospitals in the Department of Health's scheme have been targeted." She finished.  
"Any thoughts, Reid?" Rossi asked.  
"If we were able to dig up some of the foundations of the hospitals we could find out." I replied. My teammates raised their eyebrows as if I had suggested something illogical.  
"Oh yes, I'm sure they'd all love for a gang of builders to turn up and take out a few floors." Rossi said wryly.  
"Well, if the unsub is burying the bodies themselves then they must be pretty mobile, a truck-driver, perhaps. If they're not then they must have contacts willing to do it for them, which begs the question if this is a team across the US working together…" I spoke quickly, almost rambling.  
"Or if it's just somebody who's owed a lot of favours." Blake finished.  
We were interrupted by my phone ringing; I looked at the caller ID: "Penelope Garcia".  
"Hello, Garcia" I spoke into the receiver.  
"Hello Dr. Reid. I have completed my homework." She replied happily. If she hadn't have said my name I would've thought she'd mistook me for Morgan.  
Confused, I asked "What do you mean?"  
"Sweet-cheeks, I looked into the complaints against the Department of Health like you asked me."  
"Oh yes." I recalled my request from earlier.  
"There are ridiculous numbers of them, some quite tragic but some pretty stupid if you ask me. Anyway I cross-referenced them with referrals to the hospitals in Sacramento, Little Rock and with Greenley and I might have something juicy. There were almost identical complaints about the way cases involving depression were handled."  
"What happened with patients?" I asked, taking notes on one of the notebooks on the table.  
"They committed suicide." She said solemnly.  
"The complaints weren't from their families?" I asked, drawing on previous experiences with personal crusades for revenge.  
"I looked, one of the deceased had none to speak of, poor soul, but the others didn't blame the hospitals, two of them even sent letters of thanks for what they did do!" she exclaimed.  
"Alright, thanks Garcia. We'll be in touch when Hotch and Morgan get back from the lab."  
"Toodles!" she replied cheerfully.

After relaying Garcia's findings to Rossi and Blake, they went to the main corridor to look at the burial site, leaving me to go through the old cases looking for more information. I was interrupted by Hotch and Morgan's return.  
"Have you guys got anything?" Morgan asked, eagerly.  
"Garcia has linked all the hospitals targeted so far by complaints about depression cases that eventually culminated in suicide. Depending on how long the bodies have been down there we might be able to work out more about the unsub, which we hoped you might be able to shed some light on?" I replied.  
"Forensics now believe that the remains have been buried for no more than two years in all of the hospital's cases which means this is still ongoing and the unsub should be getting ready to bury again quite soon. We also have an ID on three of the six bodies in total, not including those found here." Hotch said straight-forwardly.  
I called Garcia and put her on speaker,  
"Yes my little munchkin, what can I do for you?" she greeted us.  
"Garcia, we have some names for you." Hotch stated.  
"Fire away, sir." She replied a little more formally.  
"Tilly Radstock, Chloe Rivers and David Heddon."  
"Um, sir." She said, audibly a little shaken, "those people were among those who had committed suicide, I assume Reid has filled you in."  
"He has. Garcia, I want you to look into all of the backgrounds of everybody on the suicide list, include those on the other seven hospitals' records. We'll get JJ to get their files faxed over here."  
"Yes, sir." She stated with conviction before hanging up.  
Rossi and Blake re-entered the room.  
"We didn't find anything of much substance…" Blake started.  
"Reid, fill them in. I'm going to find JJ. And page that girl from earlier, see if they have records of any depression patients on site, we need to ID the bodies found here if we want the connection between the bodies to stand up in court." Hotch ordered before walking back through the door. _Oh no_.

While Morgan hunted around the cupboards for some "decent coffee" I told Rossi and Blake what had been happening. In the back of my mind, I wondered how I was going to approach Heidi. Would she be upset with me for not taking her advice? She seemed fine earlier. _No, she was professional earlier_, a fleeting thought interrupted.  
"So, what's the deal with show-choir girl? Heidi, wasn't it?" Morgan asked as I eyed the pager in the middle of the table.  
"What? Nothing. There's no deal." I replied quickly. I didn't want to get into this when we were on a case. It was bad enough when it was sat fermenting in the back of my head while I tried to work out what to do about it  
"You seemed a bit flabbergasted earlier." Rossi added his analysis.  
"I was just surprised to see her here." I reasoned, putting her number into the pager. I could see Blake looking at me curiously from the other side of the table.  
"Well I'm going next door to see if they have anything better than water." Morgan said as he got up to leave.

No less than a minute later we all looked up from the paperwork to the sound of a knock. Heidi poked her head around the door and smiled. I tried to keep my gaze on the file in front of me.  
"That was fast…" Rossi noted.  
"Yes, I was just in my office around the corner." She replied. Her office? She works here often, I thought. What does she do? – I'll have to ask her, maybe it would be a welcome change from our past discussion.  
"Do you have an archive of former patients on site?" he continued.  
"I believe we have one in the basement." She replied.  
I knew I had to say something sooner or later as Hotch had asked me to go with her.  
"Would you be able to show me – we need to check something out." I asked, finally looking up from my file.  
"Yes, of course, but we'll have to get to the main office to get the keys." I noticed that she was fiddling with her hands and skirt. Maybe she was apprehensive about speaking to me again after last time.  
"That's fine. Let's go." I said as confidently as I could and held the door open for her. She smiled – which was some comfort – before I followed her out into the corridor.

I pulled the sleeves of my cardigan down as I walked, trying to think of something that might interest her to talk about. I cleared my throat and pulled some stray hair from my face.  
"Do you have any leads or am I not allowed to ask that?" she said suddenly, looking up at me.  
"W-well, not exactly, I can tell you that we're currently trying to ID the two bodies found here and we think they might have been patients here when the hospital first opened, which is why we're looking in the old records." I knew I probably spoke for longer than necessary but I didn't want to walk in silence, afraid of saying something.  
Her face fell slightly, "I see, I hope you find something." she said, gesturing to turn right. I hoped my rambling hadn't completely put her off my conversation. I quickly thought of something to lighten the atmosphere.  
"Well, the use of the paper file was exceedingly more prevalent nearly a decade ago, but then you have to factor in any unanticipated events such as fires, floods, even having had some questionable practice among doctors can affect the probability." I stopped, glancing sideways to see if she was bored.  
Heidi laughed before speaking, "well I don't think we've had any fires or floods but I couldn't say about any dodgy doctors! You'll have to ask Dr. Haylesbury…" She stopped and turned to open a familiar door, "Professor William Clarybourne" its sign read. "Hold on a second, I think William might have a key, which will save us time on getting to the main office as we can't go through the main corridor." She explained, reaching around the door frame and pulling back a set of keys.

We were making our way down some stairs when she spoke again, "So, could you put a number on the probability of us finding something?"  
I felt myself grinning, "No, I think that's a little complicated without some hard evidence, but seeing as you're pretty sure no disasters have happened and provided the filing system is intact, I'd say it's very likely… well for me anyway. If _we_ are searching then I'd have to factor in your vigilance."  
She raised her eyebrows at me before chuckling to herself.  
"I'll have you know Dr. Reid, my vigilance is exemplary," she said light-heartedly, stopping at a door and unlocking it. "This way, watch out for the steps, they're quite steep," she said more seriously.

We made our way down a flight of steps to another door which Heidi opened to reveal utter darkness. She clicked a switch to reveal rows upon rows of files, from floor to ceiling.  
"Oh wow, it's grown since I was last down here." She laughed weakly. I wondered how long she had worked here?  
"I used to help the administrators file things down here when I first came here two and a half years ago." She inadvertently answered my thoughts.  
"We'd better get started." I walked out into the basement to an empty table and two chairs. Turning, I realised Heidi was still stood in the doorway.  
"Do you think my vigilance is up to it?" she smirked.  
I grinned again and nodded.  
"I hope I don't damage your probability." She skipped up to the table and sat down.  
"I don't think you will," I said, smiling to myself as I walked around the table.  
"Ok, I believe you, statistics definitely seem to be a good topic for you," she noted.

Statistics are _always_ a good topic.


	11. Chapter 11

_Hello :)_  
_Sorry it's taken me so long to update, I've been moving back to university before term starts again and I haven't had a lot of time with my job and whatnot as well! I didn't want to upload something half-arsed either so I hope this is worth the wait!_  
_Enjoy!  
Note: For those who don't know, the term 'lay' describes people who have no professional training in a field. In this case, that is psychology, biology, neurology etc. I just thought I'd mention it as I want everybody to understand the last part!_

Chapter 11

_Heidi_

"So what are we looking for?" I asked Dr. Reid as he walked around the table. He seemed a little more at ease than he had on Monday. Maybe it was because he was working or because we had been talking about statistical probability, an area he was clearly comfortable in. Maybe he was coming around to the idea of me not labelling him as a psychotic madman. I was aware it was most likely either of the former but I hoped that it was latter.  
"To begin with, anything from two or more years ago relating to a case of depression." He stated clearly.  
"Ok, well everything is filed chronologically, then by illness, then by severity, then alphabetically. So we should start by that wall and work our way down." I pointed towards the wall, clad in files, behind him. He wandered over to the far left and began sifting through the shelves.  
_Right then_, I retrieved my glasses from my skirt pocket, rolled up the long sleeves of my white jumper and walked over to the far right to explore the files there.

We worked in almost-silence, exchanging a few words about our findings as we gradually made our way towards each other from our respective ends of the rows. Occasionally I stole a glance at him; his eyes squinted as he noticed important details; he smiled and frowned as he read the case notes of some of Greenley's successes and failures. He looked remarkably calm when reading; taking in information, seeming at relative peace.

Upon reaching the fifth and final row I realised I was simply too vertically-challenged for the highest shelves. Defeated, I climbed up onto the ladder resting against them to continue to my search. My actions clearly escaped Dr. Reid's awareness as he carried on walking backwards towards me, not ten minutes later.  
"No, hold on!" I shouted to get his attention, climbing down the ladder as fast as my little legs would carry me. Unfortunately as he turned around to see what I was shouting about, his forearm knocked the ladder and I fell down the last two rungs, landing on my hip on the floor.  
His eyes were panicked as he looked down at me, "I'm so sorry! I d…I didn't, well I guess it's obvious I didn't see you…I'm sorry…" His hands dashed about as he rambled, as if he didn't know whether to help me up or if he thought he'd done enough.  
"It's fine, don't worry, no harm done!" I reassured him. I went to rub my eyes when I suddenly thought that I could, without bumping into my glasses. I felt around on the floor before I heard Dr. Reid clear his throat.  
"I'm sorry…" he repeated.  
"Honestly, it's fi-", looking up I saw him holding my glasses, examining the cracked lenses. _Oh dear_.  
Picking myself up, I took my glasses and scanned for any other damages before stowing them back in my skirt pocket.  
"I'm so-" he began.  
"Dr. Reid." I cut him off somewhat sternly, "it was an accident. As I said on Monday, you don't need to keep apologising." I finished, only realising after I'd said it that referring to our past conversation probably wasn't the best idea. His cheeks flushed slightly in response. He looked like he wanted to apologise again.  
"I didn't notice you had gotten up on the ladder because I found something interesting in the files and I read even faster than usual" He explained. "I usually read about 20000 words per minute, around 50 times faster than the average person," he continued when I didn't respond.  
I opened then closed my mouth again before looking at the floor, knowing what was coming.  
"You already knew that didn't you." He stated rather than questioned, remembering that I'd read his file. Now it was my turn to blush pink.  
"In my defence, you moved pretty swiftly through those files. And you nearly always met me nearer my end of the rows. So it's quite obvious, even to the naïve observer…" I reasoned, hoping to lighten the atmosphere.  
"I suppose that's true," he admitted.  
"It is true. So what was so interesting that it was worth my bruised innominate?" I joked, much to Dr. Reid's sorrow. He shifted uncomfortably on his feet.  
"Don't look so worried, I'm fine." I reassured him. "What did you find?"  
"This file is quite shocking – a male, diagnosed with depression and prescribed a course of Prozac but was convinced the drug was making him worse. His depression developed into its chronic form and he was institutionalised here after several suicide attempts. He showed little progress so his transfer was signed off a couple of months later. He died in transit after taking an overdose." He spoke factually, as if he was reading a set of bullet points he had made in his head.  
"When was this?" I tried to look at the file sideways.  
"27 months ago, his name was Jeremy Fallow."  
I gasped. "I knew Jeremy, I remember William – sorry, Professor Clarybourne –" I corrected myself when I saw his eyes squint as if he was analysing everything I said, "asking me to try to talk him into taking his medication. Look," I rifled through the file in his hands to find several of the word-searches we had done together when I had spoken to him. "He was really good at these, so I tried to use them to build a rapport with him."  
"If he was institutionalised, you could have made him take it, legally he would have had no choice." He made a logical point.  
"Touché." I walked over to the table to the stack of files. "But while that is legal, I believe it to be immoral. These people,", I gestured to the stack, "are humans who are just living in an altered reality. For them, their outlook is the norm and we would be imposing on that. I'm sure you're aware of the controversy surrounding the use of drugs as a treatment for psychological problems and I'm sure you could guess which side I'm on! Personally I like to get to know people and use that to form strategies they could use to adapt to our outlook. I find that working with instead of against their reality is the best form of treatment." I noticed Dr. Reid was squinting at me again, his head tilted to the side.  
"But medication has immediate and long-lasting effects and provides a form of control that we wouldn't otherwise have. Forgive me, but I don't think a friendly chat over a word puzzle can help everybody."  
My eyes widened at his cynicism. "But it works for some, and for others it can useful alongside medication. That's why Professor Clarybourne asked me…"  
"What, why did he ask you?" he suddenly stepped towards me as if proximity would give him more information.  
"He…he asked me because it had worked with another patient who had also refused to take their medication but began a music class which yielded significant improvements in regard to their…" I felt like I was on to something but my head worked a lot faster than my mouth.  
"In regard to what?" he pushed.  
"Their illness. Sarah, the music class helped her move forward from her depressive episode instigated by a diagnosis of cancer. She became an advocate of music therapy and taught classes at the community hall after she was discharged. Unfortunately, she died a year later from the tumour."  
"Do you have her file here?"  
"Yes, I picked it up earlier," I thumbed through the files on the table, "here, Sarah Paxley, she was quite secretive, she didn't like people knowing she had cancer. I later found out she thought the depression medication might make it worse and she'd die faster." I explained.  
"When was she here?" he asked.  
"The same time as Jeremy, they were friends…" I replied.  
Dr. Reid squinted again before taking his phone out of his pocket and dialling.  
"Hotch, have you found anything in the files JJ got faxed over? …Right… I think I know who the Greenley victims are…Yep, on our way." He hung up and turned to me.  
"How do you know it's Jeremy and Sarah? Don't we have to go through all of these to be sure?"  
"Not now, Hotch said that the other three identified victims were all patients who had refused medication and either had, were having or looking into alternative therapy for depression. I need to get these files to the team so we can start working on the profile." He clarified.  
"Right, let's go then." I gathered up the files, handed them over and walked with Dr. Reid towards the door.

"Thank you for helping me." He said as we walked down the corridor towards the FBI's room. He seemed to be more at ease now that we'd found something useful.  
"That's alright, it was an interesting afternoon. It was nice looking back on some of the cases I've worked with." I smiled.  
"Is this what you want to do?" he asked  
"Working here? I like it but I'd love to have my own clinic where I could practice the treatments I believe in most, even if others don't…" I trailed off, thinking of my dream.  
"In the basement, I-I didn't mean that I didn't believe you-" he began nervously, referring back to our slight disagreement. I still couldn't believe his cynicism. Well, I could, as I had told him, his experience of mental illness hasn't been great, which affects the way he thinks of himself, and judging from our earlier conversation, the entirety of mental illness and its treatment.  
"No, it's fine Dr. Reid, you're entitled to your opinion, and I think it's entirely founded in your case" – I noticed a hint of sadness in his expression – "but I still think it's a bit of a lay opinion."  
I was surprised when he smirked.  
"You know, I've never been called 'lay' before," he smiled.  
"No, I don't suppose you would have been," I giggled.  
We reached the FBI's door and stopped. It reminded me of the classic rom-com scene when a couple return from a date and stop at the door belonging to one and have the awkward goodbye chat.  
"Heidi…" he began, "I-I really am sorry about your bruise and your glasses." He was worrying again.  
"And I told you to stop apologising. It's fine, I needed a new pair anyway." I reasoned, hoping it would help. "Anyway, I have to go, I have a rehearsal to get to," I said, dropping a hint. Maybe we would get a second date, hopefully one without as much injury… _No, stop thinking like Lou-lou_, I mentally chastised myself.  
I noticed his eyes widen slightly before he opened his mouth to speak.  
I interrupted. "And if you'd like to witness what alternative therapy can really do, then you should come. I think you will be surprised. Goodbye Dr. Reid." I waved and walked away from him.  
"Goodbye!" he said loudly, before I got out of earshot.  
I smiled to myself and thought Lou-lou and Mina would be proud!


	12. Chapter 12

_Hiya,_

_Thank you for the follows and favourites!  
I've finally finished this chapter, I hope you all like it! :)  
Note: I don't own the song lyrics __(Emeli Sande's "Read all about it")__, I just thought they were quite apt! _

_Until next time!_

* * *

Chapter 12

_Spencer_

"Right, so the unsub is somebody that has something against alternative therapies? Pharmaceutical representative would be too obvious, right?" Morgan theorised.  
"I think it's deeper than that, maybe this person had a bad experience with a therapy or was close to somebody who had?" Blake added.  
"Forensics have confirmed that the bodies were decapitated post-mortem which is definitely some kind of message too, right?" JJ asked.  
"Well, the general staple for mental illness is the brain so the decapitation – an active removal of the brain from the body – could be symbolic of the treatment of the victim's brains as insufficient." I replied.  
"Somebody who has been failed by the system and wants to take it out those who've found it to be successful." Rossi chimed in from beside me.  
We were sat around the giant table proposing different motives for the murders. I kept mulling over what Heidi had said. She seemed quite chirpy on our way to the basement; she definitely had a proclivity for lively yet slightly ironic conversation. I remembered my mother saying such a tendency was a very British characteristic. But despite her smiles on the way back up here I couldn't help thinking that I'd insulted her again.  
"Anything else, Reid?" Hotch interrupted my musings.  
"I agree with Rossi, however Heidi said the female victim died from cancer whereas the others are suicides so the unsub must've made a mistake or is becoming delusional." I pointed out.  
"So it could be someone from afar just jumping to conclusions about her death." Morgan noted.  
"Do we know how her death was handled?" Alex asked.  
"It doesn't say anything about her death in the file. I'm not sure about local media." I replied.  
"What about somebody here? They'd know, right?" Morgan asked.  
"Heidi would know…" I thought out-loud, earning curious looks from everybody.  
"First-name basis eh, pretty boy?" Morgan grinned. I cleared my throat to avoid his remark.  
"Derek…" JJ said quietly.  
Morgan held his hands up, "joke, but seriously, how would she know?"  
"She worked with Sarah Paxley. She also worked with Jeremy Fallow – she said they were friends." I answered.  
"Where is she now?" Hotch asked.  
"She left for choir-rehearsal." I said matter-of-factly.  
"Right, ask Garcia to find out where and you and Blake go and ask her about it. We need to figure out this unsub's motive and we might not have much time before they bury and disappear again."  
"Let's go, I'll call her on the way." Blake said, getting up.  
Well, at least I'll be attending a rehearsal, as she suggested, even if it might be a little awkward…

Twenty minutes later Blake and I walked quickly through the entrance of a church hall. While she spoke to a member of staff, called Jared I registered from his name tag, I looked toward a floor-to-ceiling display board on the wall. Masses of photographs covered a large backing poster of Orion's nebula and surrounded the word "Universe". I stepped forward to get a closer look at some of the newspaper clippings showcasing the choir's talent. I recognised the leaflets in the container next to the board as the same as the one Heidi gave me that Monday morning. I opened my bag to retrieve it when I was interrupted by a voice.  
"They're incredible aren't they?"  
I turned to see the man Blake was speaking to admiring the display as well. "They certainly seem very popular," I observed from the clippings.  
Jared scoffed, "those three work wonders with some of these kids. Most of them wouldn't have a chance anywhere else but anybody is welcome here, no matter who you are." He pointed to the picture of the choirmasters, Heidi in the middle.  
"Reid," – I looked at Blake, "let's go." She gestured for me to follow her the through the foyer.  
As we walked toward the hall, a melancholic harmony expelled the silence. I heard her now-familiar voice singing alongside a piano; her accent was undeniably one of her most distinguishable characteristics. I opened the door for Blake and we entered to find an enormous congregation of people humming along in groups. I turned to see Heidi seated at a beautiful grand piano with the man and woman from the light festival and the display in the foyer, Llewelyn and Mina I recalled, stood behind her, watching the assembly.  
"This is a beautiful song." Blake said from beside me.

_"You've got a heart as loud as lions so why let your voice be tamed, maybe we're a little different, there's no need to be ashamed…"_

I could see Mina lean down to whisper something in Llewelyn's ear out of the corner of my eye. He turned his head slowly until his eyes fell upon me; he looked straight at me for a second then whispered something back to Mina.

_"Let's get the TV and the radio to play our tune again, it's about time we got some airplay of our version of events. There's no need to be afraid, I will sing with you my friend…"_

"She plays very well." Blake praised quietly.  
I nodded as I watched her, lost in the melody of the song. The eyes of the choir were transfixed on her, her words were empowering them. I thought back to what she had said earlier: "if you'd like to witness what alternative therapy can do, then you should come." I smiled as I indeed, bared witness to a unique form of inspiration.

_"Yeah we're all wonderful, wonderful people, so when did we all get so fearful, and now we're finally finding our voices, so take a chance come and help me sing this…!"_

Llewelyn slowly stepped forward and placed his hands on Heidi's shoulders as he and the rest of the choir joined her in singing through the bridge of the song. A fleeting thought darted through my mind, _does he know that I've insulted her?_ _Maybe that's what they were whispering about…_

The final chords of the song sounded and the choir clapped before Llewlyn, protective hands still on Heidi's shoulders, thanked them for coming, wished them a good weekend and reminded them of their next rehearsal on Monday. The choir said their goodbyes and filed their way through another door at the back of the hall, chatting and laughing with each other.  
Mina gathered up the paperwork on the top of the piano as Llewlyn leaned down and whispered to Heidi. Her head snapped up from whatever she had been occupied with, and looked around until she saw me. She smiled and stood up.  
"Hello Dr. Reid, I'm glad you could make it." She stepped around the piano and smoothed out her skirt before walking toward Blake and I. "What did you think?" she continued while I tried to think of something to say.  
"I don't think I was here long enough to give an accurate judgement." I went for the obvious, trying to stay on task.  
Her face fell slightly; Mina and Llewelyn looked at each other disparagingly. I stared at my feet, letting my hair fall over my face to hide my slightly reddened cheeks.  
"I'm SSA Alex Blake, from the BAU like Dr. Reid. It's really impressive what you do, here." Blake praised, nudging my elbow.  
I pursed my lips before speaking, "uh-we're actually here to ask you about Sarah Paxley. Do you remember how her death was reported or what people knew about it?" I asked clearly.  
"Um, well, as I said you in the basement, she didn't want people knowing about her tumour. Only close family and friends knew and her consultant and a few hospital staff knew about it."  
"What did people think of her death?" Blake asked.  
"There were rumours that she'd committed suicide. Because her and Jeremy's deaths were within weeks of each other people thought they had made some sort of pact. It was nonsense of course, she had been discharged and just visited once in a while."  
"She visited after she was disharged?" I asked taking notes.  
"Yes, she took Jeremy to the library parked out in the garden."  
"Parked?" Blake sounded confused.  
"Oh sorry, that was bit misleading! We had a mobile library visit us from time to time and it was generally based in the gardens due to the good weather!" Heidi smiled and tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear, revealing two silver stars sitting on her earlobe. They shimmered in light above us; I couldn't help but think she might have a preoccupation with stars, with the choir being called "Universe" as well – I wondered if it was deliberate or purely coincidental?  
Realising I was staring, I cleared my throat, "I think that's all we need for now, if you think of anything else, however small, give us a call, anytime." I handed her my card from my notebook.  
"Okay, will do. I hope I was helpful! Goodbye Agent Blake, Dr. Reid."  
"Thank you,Heidi." I replied.  
She smiled and walked back towards the piano. I heard vague mutterings coming from the trio before I heard Blake leave.

When I caught up with her she glanced sideways at me, "so, is that who you were talking about before?" She asked curiously.  
"What makes you say that?" I replied somewhat defensively.  
"What did I tell you about answering questions with questions?" she mock-scolded.  
Smiling a little, I relented, "yes, she's asked me to come to a rehearsal a couple of times despite me almost always saying something stupid."  
"Well you're not wrong, you weren't exactly full of beans in there." She observed.  
"I'm just nervous." I thought-out-loud.  
"Why's that?"  
"It's a bit of a long story. I just make things difficult for myself is all."  
"Well, we have twenty minutes to kill in the car." She said encouragingly as we made our way out of the church hall.


	13. Chapter 13

_Hi!_  
_So sorry I haven't updated in about a month! I've just moved back to university and my accommodation was riddled with problems (one of them being the internet). Then work started and I've been swamped for a couple of weeks with so many things to do that this story kept falling down my 'to-do'-list._  
_I'm planning to try and keep updates regular again but my life is a bit of rollercoaster at the moment so apologies in advance if they're a bit sparse._  
_Thank you for continuing reading/following/favourite-ing; it has been quite uplifting to see people are still reading my story when everything else was a bit poo._  
_Even if it is a bit shorter than usual, enjoy chapter 13! :)_

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Chapter 13

_Heidi_

Wrapped in one of my mother's fluffiest blankets from home, I sat cross-legged, slowly sipping a cup of hot-chocolate as I stared intently at the essay open on my laptop. I had been battling with it for the past couple of hours. And it was winning.  
I groaned loudly, shut my laptop and spun around on my chair, daydreaming. Or general dreaming; it was late and I should have gone to bed hours ago if I wanted to be up for my shift tomorrow.  
A less-than-subtle knock at my door interrupted my spins.  
"Y-" I began, nearly falling to the floor, legs akimbo.  
"Mina and I were talking. You should definitely call him." Lou-lou declared as he opened the door quickly.  
I sighed. "I can't do that. I don't have any more information." Both he and Mina had been gossiping about Dr. Reid's visit to rehearsal this evening since the choir left.  
"Darling, that's irrelevant," he dismissed, waving his hands as he sat down on my bed. "And for the record, you are going to do yourself an injury on that chair."  
"Don't know what you're talking about." I looked at the ceiling trying not to smile.  
"Then again, it might give you a reason to call _Dr._ Reid," Lou-lou teased.  
"He's not that kind of doctor," I glared at him.  
"Again, irrelevant."  
"Llewelyn! You're so distracting, I'm trying to finish my essay!" I complained, spinning back around and opening my laptop.  
"Looks like it. Come on Heidi, be daring, please!" he begged, now on his knees next to me.  
"I'm not daring; I'm British." I stated cynically, typing a new paragraph.  
"Don't you want to put yourself out there just this once? You might surprise yourself!" Lou-lou grasped my wrist gently as he spoke, "you tell the choir to make their life an adventure all the time!"  
"You know that's a different context. Yes, it might be an adventure, but I'm more likely to get injured in that respect than say, spinning around on my chair."  
"I think if you stopped thinking with your head you might disprove that hypothesis."  
I stopped typing and stared at my hands. "Lou-lou, I'm not going to call him. The idea is completely inappropriate, especially considering he's technically working and on a case at my place of work, I might add."  
"Well you can keep his card for when he's finished then…"  
"What makes you think he'd even be mildly interested? He only talks to me on work-related matters; he sees me only when he thinks I might be useful to the case. Other than those instances, he avoids me like the plague." I questioned.  
"My dear Heidi, don't you think that if he truly wanted to avoid you he'd talk somebody else into asking the questions? He's embarrassed! You have read his file after all, and given him a few home truths I understand from what you've told me. It's interesting that you think he has a low opinion of himself when you seem to be suffering from the same problem." Lou-lou finished his mini-soliloquy with a proud smile.  
I suppose he could be right, Dr. Reid didn't really show an aversion to me, rather my semi-professional opinions. But then lots of people shared his sentiments, which is why drug therapy still exists. Perhaps in coming to Greenley, he, like so many others, hoped for a quick, or at least easier, fix. I had considered embarrassment though, which would explain much of his nervousness around me. How was I supposed to fix that?!  
I got up, blanket in tow, and flopped onto my bed. Lou-lou gently sat down next to me and pulled me into a hug.  
"This is exactly why I don't get myself into these situations." I murmured sulkily.  
"Maybe this is the cosmos telling you that you need to try something new. Maybe somewhere some planets have aligned!" He waved his hands up in the air to demonstrate.  
I chuckled a little before answering, "but every time I think I might be getting a little further, when we might actually have an interesting conversation, something happens or he just closes up and we're back to the start."  
"Sweetheart, this is when you need to stop and think of me, what would I do?" he said slyly.  
I narrowed my eyes and elbowed his side.  
"In all seriousness, be a bit more… assertive. Then at least you will know that you actually gave it a try and you won't regret anything. And, as a bonus, you might be able to finish that essay that you've been moaning about, because you'll have less on your mind." He squeezed my arm encouragingly.  
I groaned and burrowed my face into my blankets. "What am I supposed to do, then?" I muttered through the fluff.  
"Heidi, to me, it sounds like you're both just dancing circles around each other so it'll just take one of you to come out and say something," Lou-lou reasoned.  
"But he might be _dancing_, as you so kindly put it, for a different reason." I countered.  
"Whatever the reason, just ask him outright and go from there. I know you love control but no matter how much you want there to be, there is no set plan for this situation."  
"I know…"I rescinded, pouting slightly.  
"You have a shift tomorrow, right?"  
"Yes, but I still think it's inappropriate at the moment."  
"Wait for a bit then, maybe something will surprise you in the meantime..."  
"Lou-lou, when I'm a famous psychologist, you can work for me." I said playfully, pinching his arm slightly.  
"Are you suggesting that my business plans will fail and I'll have to settle for a life of science?" he said, mock-hurt.  
"Settle?" I replied with an equal tone.  
"How about when I've been driven insane by stock markets, board meetings and people in general, I'll be your personal test subject?" he teased.  
"Deal."


	14. Chapter 14

_Apologies for the late update again, I will endeavour to get better, promise!  
Thanks for continuing to read and follow/favourite nonetheless :)_

* * *

Chapter 14

_Spencer_

Blake drove slowly, mostly due to the evening traffic and I suspected partly to give me more of an opportunity to talk. I stared out of the windows, at the passing pedestrians, largely moving faster than we were; the occasional cat skulked out of the ample shrubbery that lined the road.  
"Well…" Blake said hopefully.  
"72 people have walked passed us towards the inner city since we left the community centre which is distinctly above average for this time of day. By and large people should be leav-"  
"Spencer." Blake stopped my feeble attempt at distraction. I looked at my hands, deftly continuing my counting out of the corner of my eye. "You said it was a long story" – she took both hands away the steering wheel to gesture to the queue in front of us before looking at me – "evidently we have time!"  
"You shouldn't do that. A lack of attention means your chances of having an accident are subject to a fourfold increase."  
"I'm aware of the figures. However I don't need to tell you that your mere presence here probably decreases that chance as well. Stop changing the subject" she cut me off again.  
"It's difficult, I don't really know where to start," I admitted, quietly.  
"At the beginning?" she offered.  
"Besides that." I fiddled with my hands, thinking of how to phrase my explanation. "You're probably aware that Heidi Ashville is an assistant psychologist at Greenley Hospital. However, she was consulted on my case after I began a few sessions there a few weeks ago."  
"You've been seeing a therapist?" Blake seemed a little surprised.  
"No, I've been having headaches again and I wanted a neuropsychological opinion."  
"Right, and?"  
"She's really fascinating. But not in a charming sense, more of an impractical, impossible... I can't put my finger on it." I doubted I was making much sense myself.  
"So you're irritated by her?"  
"No, only insofar as I don't understand, not in an angry way at all. I definitely upset her when I first met her. She was the person I spoke to you about that day at lunch. At the hospital however, she seemed fine. But when we looked at the files in the basement I undermined her again. Every time I talk to her I insult her. I don't mean to, it's just some of the things she says and thinks are completely illogical, and for somebody of her expertise and training, it's peculiar. She doesn't show it but it's probably getting to her so I figured it'd be best just to not say anything." I rambled but I think it registered with Blake given the sympathetic smile.  
"Her views are odd then?"  
"Well yes, I encountered opinions like it when I studied psychology but never to her extent. In a similarly odd way however, I want to or at least try to appreciate them. I can't deny that what she does is incredible, it's inspiring and she truly does help people but in ways I can't understand. "  
"I see. So when she had a look at your case, her views informed her analysis, which I'm guessing didn't immediately appeal to you?"  
"It's curious. She just looks at you or watches you and knows exactly what's going on. I'm not saying she can read minds - that's ridiculous, but she understands people on such an advanced level. It's odd and it makes me nervous; really, my mind is the only thing I have."  
"No it's-"  
I cut her off, "yes it is. Everything about me always comes back to intelligence or the way I think or do things. I don't have anything of substance that nobody else has except my mind."  
Blake looked like she wanted to argue, but relented, "and you feel she has intruded?"  
"In a way, yes. She had never met me, only read my case, but when she did, it's as if she put some pieces together and knew exactly what she was looking at, like I would look at a textbook. But nothing about her is textbook at all, she's really peculiar, which is what's confusing."  
"So she's undermined your logic in working you out, for lack of a better way of putting it."  
"I wouldn't say she's completely worked me out, as you put it…" I said flatly.  
"I would. Spencer, you spend your life trying to get into the heads of other people. Your point of view is untouchable to us mere mortals!"- she chuckled, lightening the atmosphere slightly, - "then this young woman pops up and completely get's it but you don't understand her or why her views can be used to figure yours out. It would unnerve the majority of people."  
"I suppose so." I rescinded; I had considered this, maybe it was evolutionary – Heidi had unknowingly impinged upon my territory.  
"And if you're interested in my personal opinion, you really shouldn't be so cold with her. If it's her views that fascinate you then speak to her. You're both academics – have a discussion, a debate!" she threw her arms in the arm quickly.  
"Hands on the wheel," I scolded. Blake rolled her eyes as she picked up speed now that we'd left the traffic.

I had to admit, a clinical psychological debate was tempting, but part of me worried that I'd just make things worse. Blake did have a point, however – indeed, we were both academics – therefore another, albeit small, part of me wondered, hoped, that Heidi enjoyed being challenged, as any advocate of a particular and controversial view would.  
The only remaining issue was that the only places I would be able to find her, Greenley hospital and Universe's rehearsals, were completely inappropriate setting to have such discussions.

Blake pulled up to the hospital in view of Morgan, who ran up to the car, "Come on guys, Garcia has something."  
We half-ran around the back of the hospital, through the corridors and into our room, finding the rest of the team sat around the table talking to Garcia on a laptop.  
"Right, glad we have everyone now, take your seats and enjoy the fruits of my labour," she demanded, prompting us to hurry up.  
Blake and Morgan picked up their tablets as they sat down, examining the pictures that Garcia had sent through. I instead, took out my (more) reliable notebook.  
"I have been trawling through the pasts of each of the victims; all different – secure jobs, unemployed, academic, college drop-out, married, single – that is until I hackedintothehospital'sdatabases and discovered the treatment programmes they were on. They all received alternative forms of medicine during their stay at each of the hospitals, from meditation to art therapy, they tried 'em all, "she spoke almost as fast as she typed.  
"They were unsuccessful?" Hotch asked.  
"Au contraire sir, for the most part, they were all successful in what they were used for, anxiety, OCD, the list goes on but sadly, the patients died in one way or another, overdoses mostly."  
"They were all suicides, apart from the one we know about, then?" Rossi asked.  
"Yes sir, and they were all treated for depression, which might explain the anonymous complaints I found against the Department of Health's approach to the illness."  
"Are there any other links between them that you've found?" JJ pushed for more information as she typed furiously on her tablet.  
"Well, other than what they liked to eat and drink at the hospital, which I can't imagine is significant, not much. A couple of the victims' nurse observations indicated that they liked to read, but –"  
"Read?!" My head snapped up to look at the video camera; Heidi had said Sara Paxley took Jeremy to a mobile library.  
"Yes, they sometimes visited-" Garcia tried to continue.  
"A mobile library stationed outside the hospital?" I hazarded a guess.  
"Reid, if you're going to ask me questions then at least let me answer them!" she feigned hurt.  
"Sorry, but Heidi Ashville said that after she was discharged, Sarah Paxley liked to visit Jeremy Fallow and take him to the library in the gardens."  
"Garcia, look into the staffing of the library around the time of Sarah and Jeremy's death here." Hotch ordered from across the table.  
"Working my magic…" – loud tapping sounded from the speakers – "alright, the technician was Thomas Wells, sending you a photo now, 47, former teacher, had some marriage counselling by the look of it…oh!" – the room became tense – "he had two children, both died in a suicide pact following meditative therapy six years ago. His wife couldn't cope with the loss and left him soon after."  
"Losing his family to an alternative therapy was the stressor." Morgan stated.  
"What about the other hospitals?" Rossi queried, leaning forwards.  
"Way ahead of you, sir." More loud tapping.  
"The deaths of the other known victims coincided with the library's presence at each of the hospitals. He's our guy."  
"Where is he now?" I asked, thinking aloud.  
"Did Miss Ashville tell you when she last saw him?" Hotch looked at me expectantly.  
"No she didn't," - I should have asked her that - "she just said Sarah and Jeremy visited before they died. Garcia, look into the other hospitals, have there been any suicides reported there recently? He'll target them."  
"Err, one moment sweet cheeks." I cringed at her endearment; Morgan snorted.  
"Yes, in Chicago, two suicides in the past 6 months, both were being treated for depression, and the library has been stationed there for the past two weeks. "  
"Alert the team there; we can't do much from here, he's burying again." Hotch ordered.


End file.
